President Biden announced Friday that he intends to nominate U.S. Magistrate Irma C. Ramirez of Dallas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Judge Ramirez would be the first Hispanic woman to serve on the Fifth Circuit. If confirmed, she would replace Judge Gregg Costa, who retired last year and is now a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
A former federal prosecutor in Dallas, Judge Ramirez has served as a federal magistrate in the Northern District of Texas since 2002.
In 2016, President Obama nominated Judge Ramirez to serve on the U.S. District Court. Even though her nomination received support from both Texas senators, the U.S. Senate declined to hold a vote on Judge Ramirez.
Born in Brownsville, Texas, Judge Ramirez was raised on a ranch in Tokio, Texas. She went to law school at Southern Methodist University and worked for four years as a lawyer at Locke Purnell Rain Harrell – now Locke Lord.
As a federal magistrate, Judge Ramirez handles civil disputes assigned to her by the presiding judge and she presides over pretrial matters in criminal cases.